pan out

British  

verb

1. informal (intr, adverb) to work out; turn out; result

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pan out Idioms  

1. Turn out well, succeed, as in If I don't pan out as a musician, I can always go back to school. This expression alludes to washing gold from gravel in a pan. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pan out

They will be back to full strength here and we know how this game will pan out - Paraguay will defend deep and it will be up to Germany to break them down.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

Let me just give the strict legal answer, and maybe we can pan out from there.

From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2026

If the new acquisitions pan out, vaccines could become a core focus joining diabetes, obesity, cancer, immunology and neurodegeneration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

For Long Blockchain, formerly Long Island Iced Tea, the move didn’t exactly pan out.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026

“Well, Junior Watkins’s Wonderful didn’t pan out, did it?”

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

Related Words

• turn out